Determination of parameters for use of an outdoor display unit

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure generally relates to determining parameters of use for an outdoor display unit, such as a mobile display unit, including for example a geographic area for use, a time/day of use, and/or information to be displayed by the outdoor display unit. Parameters of use may be determined based on use characteristics, including results, associated with information displayed by an outdoor display unit in a first geographic area having characteristics determined to be similar to those of a second geographic area. For example, the geographic areas may share one or more similar spatio-temporal aspects with one another. Based on these spatio-temporal aspects, a day/time when characteristics of the second geographic area are similar to those of the first geographic area may be identified. Information displayed at the second area may be determined based on the use characteristics, and the determined information may be displayed at the identified day/time.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 16/941,367, filed Jul. 28, 2020. The contents ofthis application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to display units configured todisplay information in an outdoor setting. More particularly, but notexclusively, the present disclosure relates to determining parametersfor use of an outdoor display unit, such as a mobile display unit,including for example a geographic area for use, a time/day of use,and/or information or content to be displayed by the outdoor displayunit.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described herein arenot prior art to the claims in the present application and are notadmitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

Various display units may be used in an outdoor setting to provideinformation to people coming into contact with the display unit. Thedisplay units may be stationary such that information from the displayunits may be provided to people who move into visible range of thedisplay units. The display units may also be mobile such that thedisplay units may be moved to a number of different geographiclocations. For example, a mobile display unit may be mounted to avehicle which may move the mobile display unit to different geographiclocations. In the case of mobile display units, information from thedisplay unit may be provided to people who move into visible range ofthe display unit or it may be provided to people to whom the displayunit is moved into their visible range.

The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to implementations thatsolve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such asthose described above. Rather, this background is only provided toillustrate one example technology area where some implementationsdescribed herein may be practiced.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential characteristics of the claimed subject matter, nor is itintended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimedsubject matter.

In one embodiment, a method includes identifying use characteristics ofat least one mobile display unit displaying information in a firstgeographic area. The first geographic area has a first set ofcharacteristics associated therewith, and the first set ofcharacteristics includes one or more spatio-temporal characteristics.The method also includes identifying at least a second geographic areato display information on a mobile display unit. The second geographicarea has a second set of characteristics associated therewith, and thesecond set of characteristics includes one or more spatio-temporalcharacteristics. The method further includes determining, based on theidentified use characteristics of the mobile display unit in the firstgeographic area, information to be displayed by a mobile display unit inthe second geographic area, determining an estimated time whenspatio-temporal characteristics associated with the second geographicarea are similar to spatio-temporal characteristics associated with thefirst geographic area, and displaying the determined information on amobile display unit in the second geographic area at the determinedestimated time.

In another embodiment, a system includes one or more processors and oneor more non-transitory computer-readable media containing instructions.In response to being executed by the one or more processors, theinstructions cause the system to perform operations includingidentifying use characteristics of at least one mobile display unitdisplaying information in a first geographic area, wherein the firstgeographic area has a first set of characteristics associated therewith,the first set of characteristics including one or more spatio-temporalcharacteristics; identifying at least a second geographic area todisplay information on a mobile display unit, wherein the secondgeographic area has a second set of characteristics associatedtherewith, the second set of characteristics including one or morespatio-temporal characteristics; determining, based on the identifieduse characteristics of the mobile display unit in the first geographicarea, information to be displayed by a mobile display unit in the secondgeographic area; determining an estimated time when spatio-temporalcharacteristics associated with the second geographic area are similarto spatio-temporal characteristics associated with the first geographicarea; and displaying the determined information on a mobile display unitin the second geographic area at the determined estimated time.

In still another embodiment, one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media contain instructions which, in response to beingexecuted by one or more processors, cause a system to perform operationsincluding identifying use characteristics of at least one mobile displayunit displaying information in a first geographic area, where the atleast one mobile display unit is configured to display information in anoutdoor environment and the first geographic area has a first set ofcharacteristics associated therewith; determining, based on the firstset of characteristics associated with the first geographic area, atleast a second geographic area, where the second geographic area has asecond set of characteristics associated therewith that is similar tothe first set of characteristics associated with the first geographicarea; and determining, based on the identified use characteristics ofthe mobile display unit in the first geographic area, information to bedisplayed by a mobile display unit in the second geographic area.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. Thefeatures and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained bymeans of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. These and other features of the present inventionwill become more fully apparent from the following description andappended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention asset forth hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of thepresent invention, a more particular description of the invention willbe rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that thesedrawings depict one non-limiting typical embodiment of the invention andare therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The inventionwill be described and explained with additional specificity and detailthrough the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an outdoor display unit mounted toa vehicle in a geographic area;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a system for determiningparameters of use for a mobile display unit;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example method for determining parameters ofuse for a mobile display unit; and

FIG. 4 illustrates an example computing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure generally relates to determining parameters ofuse for an outdoor display unit, such as a mobile display unit,including for example a geographic area for use, a time/day of use,and/or information to be displayed by the outdoor display unit.Parameters for use may be determined based on use characteristics,including results, associated with information displayed by an outdoordisplay unit in a first geographic area having characteristicsdetermined to be similar to those of a second geographic area. Forexample, the geographic areas may share one or more similarspatio-temporal aspects with one another. Based on these spatio-temporalaspects, a day/time when characteristics of the second geographic areaare similar to those of the first geographic area may be identified.Information to be displayed at the second area may be determined basedon the use characteristics, and the determined information may bedisplayed at the identified day/time.

Outdoor display units may provide a variety of information, includingfor example road conditions, weather conditions, emergency alerts, andnotices relating to goods, services, and events, amongst other things.Determining the effectiveness of outdoor display units, and the areas inwhich they should be used, may be challenging. For example, mobilitydata shows that urban areas change significantly in terms of activityand crowds depending on time and/or day of the week, amongst otherfactors. As a result, many areas have dynamic spatio-temporalcharacteristics or aspects associated therewith.

Implementation of outdoor display units may be planned based ongeodemographic data sets such as publicly available official statistics,like a governmental census, or commercial equivalents. However,geodemographic data provided by these sources are typically restrictedand are usually collected at a low temporal frequency. As a result, thisdata may not accurately represent daily mobility flows at a scale whichprovides the ability to plan implementation of outdoor display unitswith better effectiveness. Similarly, use of this data may make itdifficult to effectively target individuals with an outdoor display unitwhen the individuals who may be exposed to the outdoor display unitroutinely change throughout the day and week.

Geodemographic data sets may also fail to provide information relatingto interests of individuals who may be exposed to a mobile display unitat a particular geographic area or location. These interests may beinferred from market research, but this approach is not always accurateand while surveys may be conducted, they can be costly and have samplingissues, amongst others.

Similarly, without a robust approach for determining areas where certaininformation or content should be displayed by an outdoor display unit,it may be challenging to provide information from an outdoor displayunit in a manner effective for yielding a desired end result. As acorollary, without such information, it may be difficult to changeaspects of the display unit including its location and characteristicsthereof in order to produce more effective and greater exposure to theinformation provided by the display unit, thereby increasing thelikelihood that people may not be exposed to potentially importantinformation provided by the display unit.

Reference will now be made to the drawings to describe various aspectsof example embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood that thedrawings are diagrammatic and schematic representations of such exampleembodiments, and are not limiting of the present invention, nor are theynecessarily drawn to scale.

As indicated above, the present disclosure generally relates to thedetermination of parameters of use for an outdoor display unit, such asa mobile display unit, including for example a geographic area for use,a time/day of use, and/or information to be displayed by the outdoordisplay unit. The determination may be based on a variety of informationrelating to different geographic areas where a mobile display unit isand/or may be used. With reference to FIG. 1 for example, a mobiledisplay unit 10 is mounted to a vehicle 12 which, in turn, is located ingeographic area A. In the illustrated form, the geographic area A islocated within a representative geographic region B which is in the formof a gridwork which may, for example, be representative of intersectingstreets in a city or town defining city blocks. Similarly, thegeographic region B may be representative of a city or town, or aportion of a city or town, although other possibilities arecontemplated. The vehicle 12 may move the mobile display unit 10 in orto different geographic areas, including geographic areas A′ and A″noted in FIG. 1, within the geographic region B. A different mobiledisplay unit 10 may also be moved in or to one or both of geographicareas A′ and A″ by a different vehicle. Other forms in which the mobiledisplay unit 10 or another mobile display unit may be moved out of thegeographic region B by the vehicle 12 or another vehicle are alsopossible.

In FIG. 1, the geographic area A is representative of an areasurrounding an intersection of streets C and D. In one form for example,the geographic area A may be representative of a certain distance alongthe streets C and D within their intersection. For example, thegeographic area A may be representative of a city block or a portion ofa city block extending in all directions from the intersection ofstreets C and D. In other forms, the geographic area A may berepresentative of several city blocks, a zip code, a cultural districtlike an arts or theatre district, a commercial district such as abanking district or a shopping district, or an entertainment districtincluding the presence of a large number of bars, nightspots,restaurants, and/or sporting venues. The geographic area A mayadditionally or alternatively be representative of an area surrounding aparticular point of interest, such as a particular store or marketplace.The geographic area may also be representative of other areas, and theareas A′ and A″ may be representative of the same or different areasrepresented by the geographic area A.

Data relating to characteristics of the geographic area A, as well asthe geographic areas A′ and A″, may be identified and collected througha number of sources. It should be appreciated that variouscharacteristics of a geographic area may be static while others may bedynamic. For example, the number and types of buildings, commercialenterprises, housing, intersections, traffic signals, land use,population density and socio-economic characteristics, amongst otherthings, of a geographic area may be static or at least somewhat static.In contrast, characteristics like weather and pedestrian presence may berather dynamic and depend on other characteristics of the geographicregion A. For example, the number of pedestrians or individuals presentin the geographic region A who may be exposed to the mobile display unit10 may depend on a number of factors like the time of day, the day ofthe week, and/or local events that are occurring in or around thegeographic region A, just to provide a few examples.

The number of pedestrians or individuals present in the geographicregion A who may be exposed to the mobile display unit 10 at or within acertain time or time period may also depend on what is present at thegeographic region A. For example, if the geographic region A has a largenumber of restaurants, theaters, and/or nightlife spots, then the numberof pedestrians or individuals present in the geographic region A who maybe exposed to the mobile display unit 10 may be higher in the eveningand nighttime hours than during the morning or afternoon. In contrast,if the geographic region A has a large number of schools or childcarecenters, then the number of pedestrians or individuals present in thegeographic region A who may be exposed to the mobile display unit 10 maybe higher in the morning and afternoon hours than during the evening ornighttime hours.

The mobile display unit 10 may be used to identify and collect datarelating to various characteristics of the geographic area A, as well asthe geographic areas A′ and A″. For example, the mobile display unit 10may include one or more components configured to provide informationrelated to a geographic area in which the mobile display unit 10 ispresent. For example, the mobile display unit 10 may include one or moreglobal positioning system (GPS) devices that provide the geographicposition or location of the mobile display unit 10. Additionally oralternatively, the geographic position or location of the mobile displayunit 10 may be provided by one or more GPS devices associated with thevehicle 12, or the location information may come from street level imagedata which is obtained by a camera mounted on the mobile display unit 10and processed to determine the location of the vehicle 12. In one ormore embodiments, the geographic position or location of the mobiledisplay unit 10 may be provided by information received from anelectronic device (e.g., a cellular phone, a tablet, a laptop, avehicular computing system, etc.) of an operator of the vehicle 12.

With the location of the mobile display unit 10 known, additionaldetails regarding characteristics of the geographic area A like thetypes of buildings present, population density, businesses present,quality characteristics of features in the geographic area A which maybe indicative of socio-economic status of the geographic area A, etc.may be determined. For example, the location information could becross-referenced with publicly available information to determine thesecharacteristics, and/or image data obtained from a camera mounted on themobile display unit 10 may be parsed to determine these characteristics.In one form, a camera mounted on the mobile display unit 10 may becapable of capturing a 360-degree view of the area surrounding themobile display unit 10.

The mobile display unit 10 and/or the vehicle 12 may include additionalsensors for determining other characteristics of the geographic area A.For example, these additional sensors may include air quality sensors,humidity sensors, temperature sensors, ambient light sensors, noisesensors, WiFi detection sensors, Bluetooth detection sensors, and/oraccelerometers. By way of non-limiting example, the WiFi and Bluetoothdetection sensors may identify WiFi and Bluetooth signals around or nearthe mobile display unit 10 which may be used in estimating the number ofpeople who may be exposed to the mobile display unit 10 at a given time.The air quality, humidity, and temperature sensors may be used todetermine the weather at the geographic area A at a given time or periodof time, and the accelerometer may be used to determine trafficcongestion or road conditions by sensing features such as pothole E. Inaddition to or in lieu of being mounted on the mobile display unit 10and/or the vehicle 12, one or more of these and other sensors may bepositioned at different locations within the geographic area A to sensesimilar conditions in the geographic area A.

It may also be possible to estimate the number of individuals or people14 positioned within a predefined or predetermined distance of themobile display unit 10. In one non-limiting form, the size or length ofthe predetermined distance may correspond to a maximum distance andangle at which a person could view and/or read the information providedon the screen of the mobile display unit 10. These individuals mayinclude (e.g., are in possession of and/or using) portable electronicdevices which facilitate unique identification of their location andproximity to the mobile display unit 10. Similarly, based on thisinformation, it is possible to quantitatively determine the number ofthe individuals 14 who are within the predetermined distance of themobile display unit 10 at a given location and who have associatedportable electronic devices that allow identification of theirrespective locations. In one form, the individuals who include aportable electronic device that provides information facilitating theidentification of their location within the predetermined distance ofthe mobile display unit 10 may be identified through a unique mobileadvertising ID (MAID) such as an IDentifier for Advertisers (IDFA) or anAAID (Google/Android Advertising ID).

The information facilitating identification of location may come fromsources other than MAIDs as well. For example, it may come from any typeof device identifier that is tied to the location of the portableelectronic device. Regardless of their form, the device identifier mayoriginate from a software developer kit (SDK) app integration or from arestful API, amongst other possibilities. While not previouslydiscussed, it should be appreciated that there may be individuals closeto the mobile display unit 10 who do not include portable electronicdevices that provide information facilitating the identification oftheir location within the predetermined distance of the mobile displayunit 10, or their portable electronic devices may not be providing thisparticular information at that certain point in time when they arewithin the predetermined distance of the mobile display unit 10. Furtherdetails regarding an approach for estimating these individuals isdisclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/909,329 filed Jun. 23,2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

It may also be possible to determine if individuals look directly at themobile display unit 10, their reaction thereto, and/or demographicdetails like gender and age. For example, image information obtainedfrom a camera associated with the mobile display unit 10 may be parsedwith facial recognition software to identify individuals whospecifically look at the mobile display unit 10 for a predeterminedperiod of time. This information may, for example, be consideredrepresentative of the number of individuals within the predetermineddistance of the mobile display unit 10 who actually look at theinformation provided thereby. The facial recognition software, eitheralone or in combination with software configured to recognize bodylanguage, may also identify emotions of those who look at the mobiledisplay unit 10 based on different facial expressions and/or bodylanguage. For example, the facial recognition software may determine thenumber of individuals who look at the mobile display unit 10 and smile,the number of individuals who look at the mobile display unit 10 andfrown or scowl, and or the number of individuals who look at the mobiledisplay unit 10 and point, shrug, or wave. In addition, the photosand/or videos may be analyzed to also identify various demographicdetails of individuals such as, for example, gender and estimated age,and they may also be analyzed to assess potential identifiers ofsocio-economic status of individuals such the value or quality ofapparel, jewelry, or accessories associated with the individuals.

In view of the foregoing, it should be appreciated that collection ofsufficient data relating to various characteristics of a particulargeographic area may provide a spatio-temporal overview of the geographicarea, such that it may be possible to determine or estimate certaincharacteristics of the geographic area at, for example, a particulartime on a given day. For example, if a mobile display unit 10 is locatedin a geographic area at a certain time on a given day, then it may bepossible to estimate the number of people in the geographic area. Asanother example, if it is desired to use a mobile display unit 10 in ageographic area when certain characteristics of the geographic area arepresent, such as certain demographics of individuals who may be exposedto the mobile display unit 10, then a day and time when thesecharacteristics are present may be identified and establish when themobile display unit 10 should be deployed to the area.

In addition to obtaining data relating to various characteristics of acertain geographic area, it is also possible to obtain data relating touse characteristics of the mobile display unit 10 in a certaingeographic area. For example, the day and time when the mobile displayunit 10 is used, and/or the information or content displayed by themobile display unit 10, may be identified and saved. With thisinformation, and the other information discussed above, it may bepossible to determine the effectiveness of a mobile display unit 10 at ageographic area, on a certain day and at a particular time or range oftimes, in producing actions which are desired or intended by theinformation displayed by the mobile display unit 10.

For example, a particular retailer in a geographic region may indicatethat they experienced increased sales around a time when a mobiledisplay unit 10 was present and displaying information relating to theretailer. To the extent the information displayed by the mobile displayunit 10 was intended to increase sales, then the resulting increase insales may be indicative that use of the mobile display unit 10 todisplay information relating to the retailer in the geographic area waseffective in achieving the desired end result. As another example, amass transit provider in a geographic region may indicate that use ofmass transit increased around, including after for example, a time whena mobile display unit 10 was present and displaying informationencouraging use of mass transit. To the extent the information displayedby the mobile display unit 10 was intended to increase use of masstransit, then the resulting increase in use of mass transit may beindicative that use of the mobile display unit 10 to display informationrelating to mass transit in the geographic area was effective inachieving the desired end result.

The information relating to use characteristics of the mobile displayunit 10 may be stored and correlated with the information relating tocharacteristics of the geographic area described above and provide abasis upon which to identify the characteristics of the geographic areawhich were present when use of a mobile display unit 10 was effective.Similarly, this information may be used to identify the time and day,amongst other factors, when a mobile display unit 10 may be used in aparticular area with an expectation that similar effectiveness wouldresult if the mobile display unit 10 displayed the same or similarinformation. Regarding the latter for example, if the initialinformation provided by the mobile display unit 10 related to aparticular luxury item, then it could be assumed that the similardisplay of information relating to a different luxury item by a mobiledisplay unit 10 might also be similarly effective.

With the foregoing information, including one or more of usecharacteristics of the mobile display unit 10 such as the day/time andeffectiveness of its use, the geographic area of its use, andcharacteristics of the geographic area, a different geographic areahaving similar characteristics at some point in time, and as such whereuse of the mobile display unit 10 may likely be effective based onresults of use of a mobile display unit 10 in the other area, may bedetermined or identified. In addition, information or content which maybe displayed by a mobile display unit 10 at the different geographicarea may also be determined or identified based on what information waseffectively displayed earlier at the other geographic area.

It should be appreciated that the different geographic areas may havesimilar characteristics at different points in time. As such, a day/timeat which the mobile display unit 10 should be used at the differentgeographic area may also be identified, and this day/time may not be thesame as the day/time when the mobile display unit 10 was used at theother geographic area. Similarly, knowing the spatio-temporalcharacteristics of different geographic areas, these characteristics maybe compared to identify geographic areas which have similarcharacteristics at some point in time.

Determination of the similar geographic areas may be based on a numberof factors. For example, it may be based on any one or a combination ofidentifying one characteristic that has a high similarity between theareas or a number of characteristics having moderate or high similaritybetween areas. The particular characteristic(s) for which similarity isidentified may vary from case to case and may, for example, depend onthe information which will be provided by a mobile display unit 10. Forexample, if a mobile display unit 10 will provide information relatingto a luxury product, then similarities between characteristics relatingto socio-economic status and/or demographic data may be used to identifysimilar geographic areas if it is determined these factors matter most.

In one form, geographic areas having similar characteristics could beidentified and then the use characteristics of a mobile display device10 in one or both areas may be analyzed to determine if certaininformation displayed in one of the areas was done so effectively. Ifso, it may be determined that information, or similar information,should be displayed in the other geographic area based on similarcharacteristics of the geographic areas. For example, it may bedetermined that a first geographic area has similar characteristics to asecond geographic area. These geographic areas may be near one anotherin the same city, or they may be found in different cities for example.If information relating to a public health initiative was effectivelyprovided by a mobile display unit 10 in the first geographic area, thenit may be determined that the same or similar public health informationshould be displayed by a mobile display unit 10 in the second geographicarea.

In another form, it may be desired to expand the geographic areas inwhich information previously and effectively displayed by a mobiledisplay unit 10 in one geographic area is displayed. In this form, adifferent geographic area having similar characteristics may bedetermined and identified as a potential area for expanding display ofthe information. For example, a content provider may have providedinformation relating to a public health initiative that was effectivelydisplayed by a mobile display unit 10 at a first geographic area. If thecontent provider desires to effectively expand display of theinformation relating to the public health initiative to a differentgeographic area, then the first geographic area may be compared to anumber of different geographic areas in order to determine a number ofgeographic areas which have at least some similar characteristics, andthe number of areas may be identified to the content provider aspotential geographic areas for expansion where a desired effectivenessis more likely.

With reference now to FIG. 2, there is provided a schematic illustrationof a system 100 for determining parameters of use for a mobile displayunit 10, including for example a geographic area for its use, a time/dayof it should be used, and/or information to be displayed thereby. Itshould be understood that the following description may be relevant toobtaining information relating to a number of different geographic areasand/or the use of a number of mobile display units 10 at a variety ofdifferent locations.

While not specifically identified, the system 100 may include a networkwhich may be configured to communicatively couple components and devicesinternal and external to the system 100. As such, in some embodiments,components and devices of the system 100 may interact with each otherand other devices and components via the network.

In some embodiments, the network may include a short-range wirelessnetwork, such as a wireless local area network (WLAN), a personal areanetwork (PAN), or a wireless mesh network (WMN). For example, thenetwork may include networks that use Bluetooth® Class 2 and Class 3communications with protocols that are managed by the Bluetooth® SpecialInterest Group (SIG). Other examples of wireless networks may includethe IEEE 802.11 networks (commonly referred to as WiFi®), Zigbeenetworks, among other types of LANS, PANS, and WMNS. In these or otherembodiments, the network may include a wide area network (WAN) that mayextend over a relatively large geographic area as compared to thegeographic area that may be covered by a short-range wireless network.In some embodiments, the network may have numerous differentconfigurations. In some embodiments, the network may include apeer-to-peer network.

Additionally or alternatively, the network may also be coupled to or mayinclude portions of a telecommunications network for sending data in avariety of different communication protocols. In some embodiments, thenetwork may include an Internet Protocol (IP) based network such as theInternet. In some embodiments, the network may include cellularcommunication networks for sending and receiving communications and/ordata including via hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), direct dataconnection, wireless application protocol (WAP), etc. The network mayalso include a mobile data network that may include third-generation(3G), fourth-generation (4G), fifth-generation (5G), long-term evolution(LTE), long-term evolution advanced (LTE-A), Voice-over-LTE,Voice-over-IP, or any other mobile data network or combination of mobiledata networks.

In the system 100, a computing system 102 may receive informationrelating to characteristics of a number of different geographic areas,including for example the geographic area A, A′ and A″, andcharacteristics of use of one or more mobile display units 10 at a givenday and time from a variety of different sources. The computing system102 may process the information for storage in a database 106 which maybe hosted on a remote server 108 with the computing system 102.

In the system 100, the sources 104 a may correspond to those identifiedabove which provide information or data relating to characteristics ofeach geographic area across a spectrum of time in order to provide aspatio-temporal overview of the different geographic areas. The sources104 a may include, for example, GPS sensors, cameras, air qualitysensors, humidity sensors, temperature sensors, ambient light sensors,noise sensors, WiFi detection sensors, Bluetooth detection sensors,and/or accelerometers. The sources 104 a may also include databaseshaving relevant information such as population density, zoning data,socio-economic factors, and demographics, amongst others, relating toeach of the different geographic areas.

The computing system 102 may be configured to analyze some or all of theinformation provided by the sources 104 a. For example, the computingsystem 102 may analyze photos and/or videos provided by a camera todetermine various characteristics of a geographic area, including forexample the types of businesses present or the number of individualsexposed to a mobile display unit 10, just to provide a few examples. Thecomputing system 102 may execute software configured to determine thesecharacteristics, or a person may analyze the photos and/or videos todetermine these characteristics and then provide related information tothe computing system 102 through a suitable input device (not shown)such as a keyboard or mouse. In either case, the resulting informationmay be organized and stored in the database 106.

The computing system 102 may also execute facial recognition software toidentify a number of individuals that specifically look at the mobiledisplay unit 10 for a predetermined period of time. This informationmay, for example, be considered representative of the number ofindividuals who actually look at the information provided by a mobiledisplay unit 10. The facial recognition software, either alone or incombination with software configured to recognize body language, mayalso identify emotions of those who look at a mobile display unit 10based on different facial expressions and/or body language. For example,the facial recognition software may determine the number of individualswho look at a mobile display unit 10 and smile, the number ofindividuals who look at a mobile display unit 10 and frown or scowl, andor the number of individuals who look at a mobile display unit 10 andpoint, shrug, or wave. In addition, analysis of the photos and/or videosby the computing system 102 may also identify various demographicdetails of individuals including for example gender and estimated age.After relevant analysis, the data obtained from the sources 104 a may bestored in the database 106.

The sources 104 a may also include third party sources that provideinformation which may be used to determine various characteristics of ageographic area. For example, the third-party sources may include movietheatres, auditoriums, concert venues, or sports stadiums, just toprovide a few examples, that provide information relating to the totalnumber of people attending an event at a respective location at aparticular time. With this information, assumptions may be made relatingto the total number of people outside of and/or around the respectivelocation at various times including a window of times before thebeginning of the event and a window of time at the end of the event.Similarly, the total number of people outside the respective location ata given time may be useful in determining an estimated number ofindividuals in a geographic area who may be exposed to a mobile displayunit 10.

The third-party sources may also provide information relating to theunique device identifiers associated with individuals which may beexposed to a mobile display unit 10. In one form for example, a sourceof this nature may be a location-based marketing analytics provider,although other variations are possible. For example, location-technologyplatforms, mobile applications that collect information on thewhereabouts or location of mobile users, cellular providers, or othersources such as location data providers may also provide informationrelating to individuals which may be exposed to a mobile display unit10. The computing system 102 may analyze the information provided by oneor more of these sources and store it in the database 106 in associationwith the information stored in the database 106 that is obtained fromthe other sources 104 a. The third-party sources may also provideinformation relating to the weather at each geographic location at thetime (or within some range thereof) when the information from the othersources 104 a is obtained. The computing system 102 may analyze theinformation provided by such a source and store it in the database 106in association with the information stored in the database 106 that isobtained from the other sources 104 a.

A number of sources 104 b may provide information relating to usecharacteristics of a number of mobile display units 10. This informationmay include data relating to when and where each mobile display unit 10is used, the information or content displayed by each mobile displayunit 10, and the effectiveness of each mobile display unit 10 at ageographic area. The computing system 102 may also be configured todetermine the effectiveness of each mobile display unit at a geographicarea when, for example, the sources 104 b provide relevant informationfor doing so. For example, one or more of the sources 104 b may provideinformation relating to sales or store visits, amongst others,associated with times when a mobile display unit displays relatedinformation at a geographic area.

The data information collection described in connection with the system100 may be repeated a number of times for a given geographic area. Asadditional data is collected, a more accurate representation ofspatio-temporal characteristics of a given geographic area may beprovided. This representation may be subsequently used for determiningsimilarities between geographic areas to identify geographic areas whereuse of a mobile display unit 10 may be effective.

As indicated above, the system 100 may also determine geographic areasthat have similar characteristics and may also determine information orcontent that should be displayed by a mobile display unit 10 indifferent geographic areas having similar characteristics. Thedetermination of geographic areas having similar characteristics may beperformed through a variety of different approaches. Similarly, theapproaches described herein are mere examples and should not be viewedas limiting or exhaustive.

With the information relating to characteristics of a geographic area asdiscussed, a geographic area may be defined by a set of spatialtopological boundaries which may effectively segment the area todistinct items, although overlapping area segments are also possible.Moreover, with this information, a geographic area may be observed in asequence of time windows. Using these space and time characterizations,spatio-temporal segments may be obtained, and each segment can berepresented as a vector of a certain dimensionality ‘d’, which is simplya mathematical formulation for a sequence of ‘d’ numbers. These numbersmay represent a subset of the information relating to characteristics ofa geographic region as described above including, but not limited to,information about time, the spatial index of an area, the demographicmakeup of individuals who may be exposed to a mobile display unit 10 inthe area, socio-economic indicators in the area, and/or weatherconditions. The encoding of categorical variables in this context isalso possible to obtain symbolic numerical representations of data thatare not inherently numerically described.

Given two spatio-temporal characteristics of different areas at selectedtime windows, a similarity/distance score between those may be measuredto allow comparisons between the geographic areas. Using a similaritymetric for example, a pair of spatio-temporal segments, and theirrespective vector representations as inputs, a measurement of howsimilar they are with one another may be performed. Similarly, with theinformation relating to different characteristics of geographic areas asdescribed above, the similarity of one area can be measured relative toall other areas for which this information is known. Such informationmay be collected and organized in similarity (or affinity) matrices.

Following calculation of similarity scores, characteristics of differentgeographic areas could be ranked to provide a “recommendation list” to acontent provider of a mobile display unit 10 who can then decide toextend and grow their campaign to these new areas, times and audiences.A threshold k can typically be applied to limit the number ofrecommendations. As an example, the top-k items can be recommended to acontent provider with k typically being decided according to a userinterface in place. The threshold k can also be decided dynamically bysetting a similarity tolerance value suggesting that items who are lesssimilar than that tolerance value to the target area, should simply bediscarded. The latter could be due to the fact that recommending lesssimilar areas will be less effective in efficiency terms and hence lessdesirable for use to the content provider. In this setting, a naturalsolution that would automatically accommodate the requirement forobtaining a set of similar items, while at the same time effectivelyapplying varying thresholds (the threshold k could vary from one area toanother), would be the use of a clustering algorithm. Such an algorithmcould use as input a spatio-temporal item similarity matrix describedabove and output a set of groupings (clusters) where each grouping is aset of similar items. An non-limiting comparative illustration ofclusters of similar areas in a geographic region such as a city, withdifferent colors showing areas which are similar, may be found in Noulaset al. (2011). “Exploiting Semantic Annotations for ClusteringGeographic Areas and Users in Location-based Social Networks”. FifthInternational AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media.

One type of algorithm having flexibility and effectiveness which may beused is Spectral Clustering. Spectral Clustering is provided with asimilarity (affinity) matrix as input such as W. This matrix is used togenerate the graph Laplacian L where L is set as L:=I−1/D−W where D isthe diagonal matrix whose diagonal cell d_ii is equal to the sum ofsimilarity of item i to all other items j. An operation on the Laplacianis applied to extract its spectrum (eigenvalues). The largesteigenvalues are the most important, carrying most of the informationencompassed through the given matrix representation, and these valuescan be used now to represent each row in the matrix (clustered item) toa lower dimensional embedding. This new embedding allows for theeffective application of standard clustering algorithms, such as k-meansfor example, that would otherwise yield undesirable results, whenapplied to the initial row data representations of the clustered items.

While not previously indicated, it should be understood that thecomputing system 102 may be configured to execute one or more of theforegoing approaches for assessing similarities between differentgeographic areas. Once the computing system 102 determines geographicareas are similar, or that characteristics therebetween are at leastpartially similar, an output 110 may be provided which identifies thesimilar geographic areas. The output 110 may identify all areas within aregion which are similar as shown in the comparative illustration ofNoulas et al. referenced above, or it may identify two or more discreteareas which are similar as also shown in a different illustrativecomparison of Noulas et al. for example. However, it should beappreciated that other variations for the output 110 are also possible.The system 100 may also provide as output 112 information suggested tobe displayed by a mobile display unit 10 at one or more of the similargeographic areas identified in output 110. For example, the informationmay be the same as or have some similarities to information which waseffectively displayed at one of the similar geographic areas.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the system 100without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example,the system 100 may include more or fewer elements than those illustratedand described in the present disclosure. For example, the system 100 mayinclude any number of third-party devices associated with any number ofentities.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example method 300 for determiningparameters of use for a mobile display unit 10, including for example ageographic area for its use, a time/day of it should be used, and/orinformation to be displayed thereby, amongst other possibilities. Themethod 300 may be arranged in accordance with at least one embodimentdescribed in the present disclosure. One or more of the operations ofthe method 300 may be performed, in some embodiments, by a device orsystem, such as one or more elements of the system 100 of FIG. 2. Inthese and other embodiments, the method 300 may be performed based onthe execution of instructions stored on one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media. Although illustrated as discrete blocks,various blocks may be divided into additional blocks, combined intofewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation.

The method 300 may include block 302 at which use characteristics of atleast one mobile display unit 10 displaying information in a firstgeographic area may be identified. For example, as indicated above,relevant information may include when and where the mobile display unit10 is used, the content it displays, and/or its effectiveness. The firstgeographic area may have a first set of characteristics associatedtherewith as determined by various information collected relating to thefirst geographic area. In one form, use characteristics of the mobiledisplay unit 10 in the first geographic area identified at block 302 mayinclude a determination that a number of individuals exposed to the atleast one mobile display unit 10 in the first geographic area take oneor more predetermined actions in response to the information displayedby the mobile display unit 10 in the first geographic area. In anotherform, use characteristics of the mobile display unit 10 in the firstgeographic area identified at block 302 include a determination ofeffectiveness of the information displayed by the at least one mobiledisplay unit 10 in the first geographic area for achieving a desiredresponse from a number of individuals exposed to the at least one mobiledisplay unit 10 in the first geographic area. The first set ofcharacteristics associated with the first geographic area may includeone or more of demographic data, socio-economic data, data associatedwith time of day, data associated with a day of the week, and weatherinformation. In one form, at least a portion of the first set ofcharacteristics associated with the first geographic area is identifiedwith the at least one mobile display unit 10 in the first geographicarea.

At block 304, a second geographic area may be determined based on theset of characteristics associated with the first geographic area. Thesecond geographic area may include a second set of characteristicsassociated therewith that is at least partially similar to the first setof characteristics associated with the first geographic area. In oneform, the second set of characteristics associated with the secondgeographic area has at least a predetermined degree of similarity withthe first set of characteristics associated with the first geographicarea. The second set of characteristics associated with the secondgeographic area may include one or more of demographic data,socio-economic data, data associated with time of day, data associatedwith a day of the week, and weather information. In one form, at least aportion of the second set of characteristics associated with the secondgeographic area is identified with the at least one mobile display unit10 in the second geographic area. In one form, at least one of thecharacteristics of the second set of characteristics associated with thesecond geographic area has at least a predetermined degree of similaritywith at least one similar characteristic of the first set ofcharacteristics associated with the first geographic area.

At block 306, information to be displayed by a mobile display unit inthe second geographic area may be determined. This determination may bebased on the identified use characteristics of the mobile display unitin the first geographic area. The method 300 may also include providingthe determined information to the mobile display unit 10 in the secondgeographic area. The method 300 may also include the step of displaying,by a mobile display unit 10 in the second geographic area, theinformation determined at block 306. The mobile display unit 10 in thesecond geographic area may be mounted to a vehicle 12. In one form, theinformation determined at block 306 may be the same as or substantiallysimilar to information displayed by the at least one mobile display 10unit in the first geographic area. In another form, the informationdetermined at block 306 may be different from the information displayedby the at least one mobile display unit 10 in the first geographic area.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the method 300without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example,some of the operations of method 300 may be implemented in differingorder. Additionally or alternatively, two or more operations may beperformed at the same time. Furthermore, the outlined operations andactions are only provided as examples, and some of the operations andactions may be optional, combined into fewer operations and actions, orexpanded into additional operations and actions without detracting fromthe essence of the disclosed embodiments. For example, in someembodiments, the method 300 may include one or more of the operationsdescribed above with respect to FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example computing system 400.The computing system 400 may be configured according to at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure and may be an example of computingsystems that may include or be part of one or more elements of thesystem 100 of FIG. 2. For example, the system 100 may include one ormore computing systems 400. For instance, the computing system 400 maybe an example of the computing system 102 of FIG. 2. The computingsystem 400 may include a processor 402, a memory 404, and a data storage406. The processor 402, the memory 404, and the data storage 406 may becommunicatively coupled. The processor 402 may correspond to thecomputing system 102 described herein, and the data storage 406 maycorrespond to the database 106 described herein.

In general, the processor 402 may include any suitable special-purposeor general-purpose computer, computing entity, or processing deviceincluding various computer hardware or software modules and may beconfigured to execute instructions stored on any applicablecomputer-readable storage media. For example, the processor 402 mayinclude a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), aField-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or any other digital or analogcircuitry configured to interpret and/or to execute program instructionsand/or to process data. Although illustrated as a single processor inFIG. 4, the processor 402 may include any number of processorsconfigured to, individually or collectively, perform or directperformance of any number of operations described in the presentdisclosure. Additionally, one or more of the processors may be presenton one or more different electronic devices, such as different servers.

In some embodiments, the processor 402 may be configured to interpretand/or execute program instructions and/or process data stored in thememory 404, the data storage 406, or the memory 404 and the data storage406. In some embodiments, the processor 402 may fetch programinstructions from the data storage 406 and load the program instructionsin the memory 404. After the program instructions are loaded into memory404, the processor 402 may execute the program instructions.

The memory 404 and the data storage 406 may include computer-readablestorage media for carrying or having computer-executable instructions ordata structures stored thereon. Such computer-readable storage media mayinclude any available media that may be accessed by a general-purpose orspecial-purpose computer, such as the processor 402. By way of example,and not limitation, such computer-readable storage media may includetangible or non-transitory computer-readable storage media includingRandom Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), ElectricallyErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), Compact Disc Read-OnlyMemory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, flash memory devices (e.g., solid statememory devices), or any other storage medium which may be used to storeprogram code in the form of computer-executable instructions or datastructures and which may be accessed by a general-purpose orspecial-purpose computer. In these and other embodiments, the term“non-transitory” as explained herein should be construed to exclude onlythose types of transitory media that were found to fall outside thescope of patentable subject matter in the Federal Circuit decision of Inre Nuuten, 500 F.3d 1346 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Combinations of the above mayalso be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the computingsystem 400 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.For example, in some embodiments, the computing system 400 may includeany number of other components that may not be explicitly illustrated ordescribed.

For instance, in some embodiments, the computing system 400 may includea communication unit that includes any component, device, system, orcombination thereof that is configured to transmit or receiveinformation over a network. In some embodiments, the communication unitmay communicate with other devices at other locations, the samelocation, or even other components within the same system. For example,the communication unit may include a modem, a network card (wireless orwired), an optical communication device, an infrared communicationdevice, a wireless communication device (such as an antenna), and/orchipset (such as a Bluetooth device, an 802.6 device (e.g., MetropolitanArea Network (MAN)), a WiFi device, a WiMax device, cellularcommunication facilities, or others), and/or the like. The communicationunit may permit data to be exchanged with a network and/or any otherdevices or systems described in the present disclosure. For example, thecommunication unit may allow the computing system 400 to communicatewith other systems, such as computing devices and/or other networks.

Additionally or alternatively, the computing system 400 may include oneor more user interfaces in some embodiments. The user interfaces mayinclude any system or device to allow a user to interface with thecomputing system 400. For example, the interfaces may include a mouse, atrack pad, a keyboard, and/or a touchscreen, among other devices orsystems. The interfaces may also include a graphical user interface thatmay be presented on a display that may be included with the computingsystem 400. The display may be configured as one or more displays, likean LCD, LED, or other type of display. The display may be configured topresent content such as video, text, user interfaces, and other data asdirected by the processor.

As indicated above, the embodiments described in the present disclosuremay include the use of a special purpose or general-purpose computer(e.g., the processor 402 of FIG. 4) including various computer hardwareor software modules, as discussed in greater detail below. Further, asindicated above, embodiments described in the present disclosure may beimplemented using computer-readable media (e.g., the memory 404 or datastorage 406 of FIG. 4) for carrying or having computer-executableinstructions or data structures stored thereon.

In some embodiments, the different components, modules, engines, andservices described herein may be implemented as objects or processesthat execute on a computing system (e.g., as separate threads). Whilesome of the systems and methods described in the present disclosure aregenerally described as being implemented in software (stored on and/orexecuted by general purpose hardware), specific hardware implementationsor a combination of software and specific hardware implementations arealso possible and contemplated.

In accordance with common practice, the various features illustrated inthe drawings may not be drawn to scale. The illustrations presented inthe present disclosure are not meant to be actual views of anyparticular apparatus (e.g., device, system, etc.) or method, but aremerely idealized representations that are employed to describe variousembodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, the dimensions of thevarious features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. Inaddition, some of the drawings may be simplified for clarity. Thus, thedrawings may not depict all of the components of a given apparatus(e.g., device) or all operations of a particular method.

Terms used in the present disclosure and especially in the appendedclaims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as“open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as“including, but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpretedas “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as“includes, but is not limited to,” etc.).

Additionally, if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation isintended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and inthe absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example,as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may containusage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” tointroduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should notbe construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by theindefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containingsuch introduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one”or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articlesused to introduce claim recitations.

In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitationis explicitly recited, such recitation should be interpreted to mean atleast the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “tworecitations,” without other modifiers, means at least two recitations,or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where aconvention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” or “one ormore of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction isintended to include A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and Ctogether, B and C together, or A, B, and C together, etc. For example,the use of the term “and/or” is intended to be construed in this manner.

Further, any disjunctive word or phrase presenting two or morealternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings,should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including oneof the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, thephrase “A or B” should be understood to include the possibilities of “A”or “B” or “A and B.”

Additionally, the use of the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., arenot necessarily used in the present disclosure to connote a specificorder or number of elements. Generally, the terms “first,” “second,”“third,” etc., are used to distinguish between different elements asgeneric identifiers. Absence a showing that the terms “first,” “second,”“third,” etc., connote a specific order, these terms should not beunderstood to connote a specific order. Furthermore, absence a showingthat the terms first,” “second,” “third,” etc., connote a specificnumber of elements, these terms should not be understood to connote aspecific number of elements. For example, a first widget may bedescribed as having a first side and a second widget may be described ashaving a second side. The use of the term “second side” with respect tothe second widget may be to distinguish such side of the second widgetfrom the “first side” of the first widget and not to connote that thesecond widget has two sides.

All examples and conditional language recited in the present disclosureare intended for pedagogical objects to aid the reader in understandingthe invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furtheringthe art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to suchspecifically recited examples and conditions. Although embodiments ofthe present disclosure have been described in detail, it should beunderstood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterationscould be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: identifying usecharacteristics of at least one mobile display unit displayinginformation in a first geographic area, wherein the first geographicarea has a first set of characteristics associated therewith, the firstset of characteristics including one or more spatio-temporalcharacteristics; identifying at least a second geographic area todisplay information on a mobile display unit, wherein the secondgeographic area has a second set of characteristics associatedtherewith, the second set of characteristics including one or morespatio-temporal characteristics; determining, based on the identifieduse characteristics of the mobile display unit in the first geographicarea, information to be displayed by a mobile display unit in the secondgeographic area; determining an estimated time when spatio-temporalcharacteristics associated with the second geographic area are similarto spatio-temporal characteristics associated with the first geographicarea; and displaying the determined information on a mobile display unitin the second geographic area at the determined estimated time.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the second geographic area is identified inresponse to determining that the second set of characteristicsassociated with the second geographic area has at least a predetermineddegree of similarity with the first set of characteristics associatedwith the first geographic area.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein themobile display unit in the first geographic area is mounted to a vehicleand the mobile display unit in the second geographic area is mounted toa vehicle.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determined informationis the same as or substantially similar to the information displayed bythe at least one mobile display unit in the first geographic area. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the determined information is differentfrom the information displayed by the at least one mobile display unitin the first geographic area.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein theidentified use characteristics of the mobile display unit in the firstgeographic area include a determination that a number of individualsexposed to the at least one mobile display unit in the first geographicarea take one or more predetermined actions in response to theinformation displayed by the mobile display unit in the first geographicarea.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set ofcharacteristics associated with the second geographic area has at leasta predetermined degree of similarity with the first set ofcharacteristics associated with the first geographic area.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein each of the first set of characteristics associatedwith the first geographic area and the second set of characteristicsassociated with the second geographic area includes one or more ofdemographic data, socio-economic data, data associated with time of day,data associated with a day of the week, and weather related information.9. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying at least aportion of the first set of characteristics associated with the firstgeographic area with the at least one mobile display unit in the firstgeographic area.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprisingidentifying at least a portion of the second set of characteristicsassociated with the second geographic area with the mobile display unitin the second geographic area.
 11. A system comprising: one or moreprocessors; and one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediacontaining instructions which, in response to being executed by the oneor more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising:identifying use characteristics of at least one mobile display unitdisplaying information in a first geographic area, wherein the firstgeographic area has a first set of characteristics associated therewith,the first set of characteristics including one or more spatio-temporalcharacteristics; identifying at least a second geographic area todisplay information on a mobile display unit, wherein the secondgeographic area has a second set of characteristics associatedtherewith, the second set of characteristics including one or morespatio-temporal characteristics; determining, based on the identifieduse characteristics of the mobile display unit in the first geographicarea, information to be displayed by a mobile display unit in the secondgeographic area; determining an estimated time when spatio-temporalcharacteristics associated with the second geographic area are similarto spatio-temporal characteristics associated with the first geographicarea; and displaying the determined information on a mobile display unitin the second geographic area at the determined estimated time.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the determined information is the same as orsubstantially similar to the information displayed by the at least onemobile display unit in the first geographic area.
 13. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the operations further comprise: identifying at leasta portion of the first set of characteristics associated with the firstgeographic area with the at least one mobile display unit in the firstgeographic area; and identifying at least a portion of the second set ofcharacteristics associated with the second geographic area with themobile display unit in the second geographic area.
 14. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the identified use characteristics of the mobiledisplay unit in the first geographic area include a determination ofeffectiveness of the information displayed by the at least one mobiledisplay unit in the first geographic area for achieving a desiredresponse from a number of individuals exposed to the at least one mobiledisplay unit in the first geographic area.
 15. The system of claim 11,wherein at least one of the characteristics of the second set ofcharacteristics associated with the second geographic area has at leasta predetermined degree of similarity with at least one similarcharacteristic of the first set of characteristics associated with thefirst geographic area.
 16. One or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia containing instructions which, in response to being executed byone or more processors, cause a system to perform operations comprising:identifying use characteristics of at least one mobile display unitdisplaying information in a first geographic area, wherein the firstgeographic area has a first set of characteristics associated therewith,the first set of characteristics including one or more spatio-temporalcharacteristics; identifying at least a second geographic area todisplay information on a mobile display unit, wherein the secondgeographic area has a second set of characteristics associatedtherewith, the second set of characteristics including one or morespatio-temporal characteristics; determining, based on the identifieduse characteristics of the mobile display unit in the first geographicarea, information to be displayed by a mobile display unit in the secondgeographic area; determining an estimated time when spatio-temporalcharacteristics associated with the second geographic area are similarto spatio-temporal characteristics associated with the first geographicarea; and displaying the determined information on a mobile display unitin the second geographic area at the determined estimated time.
 17. Thecomputer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the operations furthercomprise providing the determined information to the mobile display unitin the second geographic area.
 18. The computer-readable media of claim16, wherein the operations further comprise providing the determinedinformation to a content provider associated with the mobile displayunit in the second geographic area.
 19. The computer-readable media ofclaim 16, wherein the operations further comprise identifying at least aportion of the first set of characteristics associated with the firstgeographic area and at least a portion of the second set ofcharacteristics associated with the second geographic area.